2008 Woodie Awards
A hunt for a red October
A torrid August leaves the sox with another opporunity at October supremacy
Jimmy Tomasetti
Issue date: 9/15/04 Section: Sports
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Let's face it: it wasn't always this good. For a good part of the summer, it was like watching re-runs of the Roadrunner speed into the sunset as Wile E. Coyote buried himself deeper into oblivion with each passing sequence. Well if you tuned into NESN from May 1 through August 1, it was the Red Sox being buried 10 _ games behind the American League East leading Yankees. Trust me, the only "meep, meep" you heard from the Hub was disgruntled fans riding your bumper home from Yawkey Way.
After busting out of the gates like bulls with a 15-6 record, the Sox lulled their nation of fans to sleep with a mediocre 37-38 record over the next seventy-five games. Red Sox Nation was calling for something: a trade, a firing, a pillow? The team was flat out boring. They were the typical 'Moneyball' team, getting men on base and waiting for the three run homer. More often than not we were blessed with the always impressive inning ending twin killing.
So what exactly was the spark that awoke the sleeping giant? Perhaps it was Jason Varitek mauling Alex Rodriguez who screeched expletives at Bronson Arroyo after being hit with an inside fastball on July 24. Members of the "Nation" seemed to run with this theory, lining up the sports talk shows with their newfound revelations about the 2004 Boston Red Sox.
General Manager Theo Epstein had other ideas.
The 29-year old boy genius pulled off one of the most unprecedented and boldest trades in recent Red Sox history as the four o'clock deadline approached on July 31. Epstein traded the eight-year face of the franchise, Nomar Garciaparra, to the Chicago Cubs, as part of a four-way deal that netted the Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera from Montreal and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz from Minnesota. Both players were lauded for their defensive abilities, but question marks paraded their of0fense. With seventy-nine errors in the teams first eighty-six games, Epstein could not care less.
"If there was a flaw on this club, it was that the defense on this team was not championship-caliber," Epstein said. "We might have gotten to the postseason. But, in my mind, we weren't going to win a World Series with our defense the way it was."
After busting out of the gates like bulls with a 15-6 record, the Sox lulled their nation of fans to sleep with a mediocre 37-38 record over the next seventy-five games. Red Sox Nation was calling for something: a trade, a firing, a pillow? The team was flat out boring. They were the typical 'Moneyball' team, getting men on base and waiting for the three run homer. More often than not we were blessed with the always impressive inning ending twin killing.
So what exactly was the spark that awoke the sleeping giant? Perhaps it was Jason Varitek mauling Alex Rodriguez who screeched expletives at Bronson Arroyo after being hit with an inside fastball on July 24. Members of the "Nation" seemed to run with this theory, lining up the sports talk shows with their newfound revelations about the 2004 Boston Red Sox.
General Manager Theo Epstein had other ideas.
The 29-year old boy genius pulled off one of the most unprecedented and boldest trades in recent Red Sox history as the four o'clock deadline approached on July 31. Epstein traded the eight-year face of the franchise, Nomar Garciaparra, to the Chicago Cubs, as part of a four-way deal that netted the Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera from Montreal and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz from Minnesota. Both players were lauded for their defensive abilities, but question marks paraded their of0fense. With seventy-nine errors in the teams first eighty-six games, Epstein could not care less.
"If there was a flaw on this club, it was that the defense on this team was not championship-caliber," Epstein said. "We might have gotten to the postseason. But, in my mind, we weren't going to win a World Series with our defense the way it was."